[balajird]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I've owned several Jaguars and when we lived in Kansas City I bough my 2002 Jaguar XJR of Ebay. I bought it at around 90-100k and it is currently somewhere around 140-150K as well. It never let me down, apart from a few smaller problems.

You want reliabillity go for a Japanese, you want a car that stands out from the crowd and is really pleasing to look at and to drive, the Jaguar might be the thing.

Jeroen

Thanks for your inputs Jeroen, I just want a car to drive in city and it doesnt need to stand out from the crowd, in fact, I would prefer to stay with the crowd

While I have no experience with Jaguar, this being my first car here, I think I would preferably go with a Honda / Toyota hoping that it will be trouble free in the first few years of ownership.

Thanks again for your inputs.

Originally Posted by ToroRosso

Balaji - How long is your stay going to be ? If it is more than 2 years, it makes sense to increase your budget to 10K and you should be able to get a very reliable car in that range.

If your stay is <2 years, then leasing is not a bad option.

Hi ToroRosso, my stay is longer and as I mentioned above, this being the first car, I dont want to invest too much in to it, I am fine to change the car after say 2 years to a better one (may be a beemer ). However, I just came across this ad for a 2001 Toyota Rav4, fully loaded with 216,000 clicks on sale for 6250$, the pictures seems to show the car in full glory. Is that worth?

Again, thank you all for your inputs / guidance and I am hoping to nail down the right car within my budget (may be with a bit of stretch)

[aah78]

Originally Posted by balajird

I also came across this Jaguar for sale, Jaguar - S, 2000 model, 140K mileage, lady driven, single owner, for 6000$, I am a bit hesitant to look in to this as I am not sure how would the maintenance be for a 14 year old Jaguar.

A Jaguar S-Type, or X-Type shouldn't be your first Jaguar ownership experience. It will be terrible & will put you off Jaguar's for good.

If you really want to, I would definitely recommend going in for an older XJ. My favourites include the XJ40 (later models '92-'94), the XJ300 & XJ308 series.
If coupe, then the XJS is another of my favouries.
You can get older Jaguars starting from @ $2000 onwards (maybe lower). I would love to own one of these & have come close to purchasing one many times.

Seriously though, get a reliable car for now & once you have room for a second car, then you can get your Jaguar fix.
Unless you want to go in for a new one with warranty, i.e.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by aah78

If you really want to, I would definitely recommend going in for an older XJ. My favourites include the XJ40 (later models '92-'94), the XJ300 & XJ308 series.

Do you mean something like this?
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...29613252&Log=0

Dont give me ideas man!!

EDIT: Or this one.
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...76685357&Log=0

I admit I dont know much about Jaguars, but they somehow fascinate me. Best way to get to know more about them would be to own one i suppose

[infotech58]

Sentra is not a bad vehicle. A friend of mine bought a used Sentra (2009 or 2010 model year) in 2012 with around 60,000 kms on ODO for 9200$ and sold it after 14 months for 7500$. I drove that car once and it felt better than the corolla/civic of same vintage.

Originally Posted by sajo

A Sentra should be fine I guess. They are priced much lower than comparable Civic/Corollas.Not sure why that is. I thought Muranos will be in a higher bracket though. Cars in Canada seem to be more reasonably priced than the ones I came across here in Nashville, TN.

[balajird]

NA Folks, would you be able to advise me on a Toyota Rav4 2001 model, 217K odo, fully loaded, claims to be lady driven and garage kept, non smoked vehicle, it is quoted for 6250$ and I am thinking of 5500$ if the seller agrees. Is this a right choice?

[athanedar]

Balaji: try to get the vehicle for around 3500$
The mileage is too high even for a reliable vehicle like Toyota.
Get it thoroughly checked from Toyota dealership before proceeding with any amount greater than 3500$

[balajird]

Thanks Athanedar, I dont think any seller will be negotiating in the range of 3500$ when he quotes 6250$, I guess, I will leave this and start looking for an appropriate car.

[balajird]

I came across this website www.vmrcanada.com which provides used car prices and it quotes a used Toyota 2001 Rav4 between 5600 - 7625 (http://www.vmrcanada.com/value_menus.../01torav4.html), I wanted to know whether the price mentioned in this website could be used as reference or should we just ignore this website.

[maddy42]

I got a chip on my cars wind shield which has spread to be a crack. I got glass coverage but will this claim affect my rates in the future?

Also anybody has tried going for autocross? Is it a good idea taking your daily driver as i need some training on how to improve my skills and i felt this is a good start.

Originally Posted by balajird

quotes a used Toyota 2001 Rav4 between 5600 - 7625 .

Buddy would stay away from this. Price is too high for the miles. Basically engine has run alot more though the age of the car doesnt look bad. You can get more options and at 6500 hell you can get a Mazda miata! Look around. Wait for it, avoid cars which your not sure of.

Maddy

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by aah78

A Jaguar S-Type, or X-Type shouldn't be your first Jaguar ownership experience. It will be terrible & will put you off Jaguar's for good.

If you really want to, I would definitely recommend going in for an older XJ. My favourites include the XJ40 (later models '92-'94), the XJ300 & XJ308 series.
If coupe, then the XJS is another of my favouries.
You can get older Jaguars starting from @ $2000 onwards (maybe lower). I would love to own one of these & have come close to purchasing one many times.

Seriously though, get a reliable car for now & once you have room for a second car, then you can get your Jaguar fix.
Unless you want to go in for a new one with warranty, i.e.

Well, each to its own. Both the S and X type are actually pretty reliable although their design isn't everybodies cup of tea.

all XJ's are nice cars, but the older the more troublesome. If you want to go for a XJ, get the latest X308 in the supercharged version. (like me). I used mine as my daily drive for three years. You could opt for the X350 XJ model, but again not everybody likes the styling. Although reliability is very good. Remember that Jaguar has been very high in the JD Powell survey in the states for quite some time now!

Here are two very informative links on Jaguars:

http://forums.jag-lovers.org/index.php3 One of the best forums in the world I find. Very informative, very sound technical advise. Check the X300 forum specifically for any XJ up to and including the x308 (XJR)

http://www.jcna.com/index.php I was a member of one of the Jaguar Clubs North America, Hearts of America Jaguar Club. Check their club list. They tend to have clubs all over the States. See if you can visit one of their club meetings. Very informative and you get to see lots of Jaguars from brand new to very old and everything in between. We had a great time with our Jaguar friends.

Jeroen

[balajird]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Buddy would stay away from this. Price is too high for the miles. Basically engine has run alot more though the age of the car doesnt look bad. You can get more options and at 6500 hell you can get a Mazda miata! Look around. Wait for it, avoid cars which your not sure of.

Maddy

Thanks Maddy, this is now off my list, it would also help me to know if www.vmrcanada.com website could be used as reference for validating used car price.

I am now eyeing on two Nissan Altimas (one is 2000 with 87K ODO and the other one is 2002 with 167K ODO) and are quoted 5700 and 4600 respectively. I will check the car and will try to negotiate further, again, the question is, are these the right prices?

[shankar.balan]

What do you guys think of leasing a car for two or three years?

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

What do you guys think of leasing a car for two or three years?

Is your question about whether to lease or Buy?

Its a personal choice but conventional logic states that you should lease if your running is low, buying a premium vehicle &/or want to change vehicle after every 2-3 years & also if it has high maintenance post initial 2-3 year period.

Personally i prefer buying unless i need to buy a vehicle that i cant afford buying. If you have anything specific then let us know & we can answer better

[mohit]

Originally Posted by balajird

Thanks Maddy, this is now off my list, it would also help me to know if www.vmrcanada.com website could be used as reference for validating used car price.

I am now eyeing on two Nissan Altimas (one is 2000 with 87K ODO and the other one is 2002 with 167K ODO) and are quoted 5700 and 4600 respectively. I will check the car and will try to negotiate further, again, the question is, are these the right prices?

Any used car pricing service is more or less guidance. Have you tried used Hyundais? Might be a better value than Honda/Toyota. Something like this:

http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Hyundai/...howcpo=ShowCPO

No idea if its a dealer car or a personal sale.

[balajird]

Originally Posted by mohit

Any used car pricing service is more or less guidance. Have you tried used Hyundais? Might be a better value than Honda/Toyota. Something like this:

http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Hyundai/...howcpo=ShowCPO

No idea if its a dealer car or a personal sale.

Thanks for the suggestion Mohit, I will now include Hyundai as well in my search and see if it is within my budget. The one you included in your post seems to be good except that I dont want a black car.